The following cases are selected examples of unlawful and abusive prosecutions and detentions. DAWN case files include extensive factual information about the background of detainees and comprehensive details regarding their arrest, charges, trial (if any), hearings, witnesses (if any), evidence (if any), sentencing (if any), detention conditions, and family retaliation by the government.
Detainees represent a cross-section of society, including not only human rights activists, but also businesspeople, former government officials, and elite members of society.
We include information about the police, intelligence agents, prosecutors, judges, jailers, and other government officials involved in these prosecutions, where available. Our information is gathered primarily from direct communication with the detainee and his/her representatives or associates, but also relies on reports and articles prepared by other organizations and individuals that we deem reliable.
The information provided is intended to provide journalists, researchers, policy experts, and the general public with a comprehensive account of the detainee's experience in X country's justice system. We will update case files as new developments emerge.
In a significant development, a Saudi court has reduced the sentence of Salma al-Shehab, a Saudi prisoner of conscience, from...
Read moreDetails(Washington D.C., February 12, 2025) — Egyptian authorities should immediately release Mohamed Ahmed Hasan Thabet, a 73-year old Egyptian businessman,...
Read moreDetailsIt has now been more than a month since the exiled Egyptian poet and dissident Abdul Rahman Youssef al-Qaradawi, who...
Read moreDetails(Washington, D.C., March 4, 2025) – The United Nations Security Council should endorse the Arab League's Gaza reconstruction proposal, which...
Read moreDetails(Washington D.C., February 11, 2025) – As King Abdullah of Jordan visits Washington D.C., DAWN urges members of Congress and...
Read moreDetailsNo tyrant can implement tyranny against an entire country on his own. He needs enablers who will implement his oppressive practices, even if it means abusing their fellow citizens. These agents often work in the shadows, where they mask their complicity in the guise of professionals exercising their duties in offices, courtrooms, police stations, and interrogation rooms.
Some of these state agents go to great lengths to hide their identities even where domestic law requires disclosure, including by assuming fictitious identities. Sometimes this is justified in the name of protecting their security, but in many cases, they seek to conceal their abusive functions to avoid public shaming, particularly among colleagues or friends who believe them to be respectable officials.
We’re fighting for a ceasefire and accountability for Israeli and U.S. officials responsible for war crimes in Gaza.
DAWN is a nonprofit organization that promotes democracy, the rule of law, and human rights for all of the peoples of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
